Study of Students Who Withdrew from Courses during the Fall of 1980. Volume 10, Number 12.

Lucas, John A.

As part of a continuing program of monitoring the number of student withdrawals and tuition refunds at William Rainey Harper College, students dropping courses during fall 1980 were surveyed to determine their characteristics and reasons for withdrawal. Students who simply stopped attending courses were not included in the study. The survey instrument asked students their age, sex, withdrawal status, use of counseling services, principal reason for withdrawal, and method of registration. Responses were obtained from 42% of the 1,831 students who officially withdrew. Findings of the study included the following: (1) 49% of the students were eligible for tuition refunds; (2) 70% of the respondents withdrew from only one course, 8% dropped more than one course but remained enrolled at Harper, and 22% withdrew from Harper entirely; (3) younger students and those registering by telephone were more apt to withdraw than older students or those registering in person; (4) while males and females had comparable withdrawal rates, females were more likely to withdraw completely from the college; (5) 22% of the respondents indicated that they withdrew from the course because it was offered at an inconvenient time, while 19% reported withdrawing because course objectives were not relevant to their needs. The study report details methodology and findings and is appended by the survey instrument. (Author/KL)